March 2008
Monthly Archive
Yanik Silver’s Underground 24 Seminar
Renegade Conservatory Guy 30 Mar 2008 | : Uncategorized
I’m in LA at the moment visiting the 4th Underground 24 event - basically a 3 day internet marketing conference.
I was invited by my good friend Barry Dunlop, as he felt I could learn quite a bit about how to succeed online from some of the internet masters. To be honest, a lot of it is way over my head!!!
But, I’m meeting some great people here, such as Dean Hunt, Mason Thomas, and Michael Dunlop, all of whom manage to combine being generally nice people with making money online.
My concern is that I come back to the UK, and my mind goes off on a tangent, which is easy to do. I currently co-run an £8m per year window company in the UK, and earn a decent living. But many of these internet marketeers seem to have vastly better profit margins and business models than my existing traditional manufacturing business. I’m sure there is quite a lot of exaggeration going on, but some of the speakers have managed to impress me with sensible, intelligent online marketing concepts.
For example, Tony Hsieh has managed to build a $1b online shoe business - Zappos.com - by ensuring that the company ethos is simple -
…the very best customer service!
And, today I was blown away by the sensible words from Mike Faith of Headsets.com, who has built a highly successful online business, specialising in selling headsets. His business is in the only specialist retailer of headsets, and suggests the secret of his success is through failure - in otherwords, learning from his mistakes. I was particularly impressed that Mike, a fellow Brit, started his sales initiation in the UK knocking on doors - selling replacement windows!!
Anyway, I’ll be back in the UK on Wednesday with some really good ideas to improve our existing websites for upvc windows, doors and conservatories. The challenge is to not come back with crazy unrelated ideas!
Double Glazing websites - most are rubbish!
Renegade Conservatory Guy 16 Mar 2008 | : sash windows, conservatory outlet, Timber Windows, conservatory, conservatories, upvc windows
If you have a look at some of the double glazing websites out there, you’re unlikely to be impressed with what you see. When talking to smaller installation companies, I often find that most owners will state that they have a website, but they get very little business from it.
It’s hardly surprising when you see websites like this one or this one.
The worst websites are the ones you can’t find - if Google can’t find your double glazing company’s website, then your customers are unlikely to find you!
There are some exceptions to the rule, and I recently wrote very positively about the Masterframe Sash Windows website, and the Timber Windows website.
And I’m delighted to say that one of our dealers have created a great website:
The Conservatory Outlet is an installer of conservatories, pvc windows and pvc doors in the North West of England - mostly Lancashire, Cheshire and Merseyside. Crucially, this website has been built in to be search engine friendly, so within 6 months it is hoped that the site is ranking well for keywords such as ‘conservatories’ or ‘double glazing manchester’.
It is very easy to navigate from the Home Page to the main areas from the website - conservatories, windows and doors. There’s also links to Special Offers and the Conservatory Showrooms in Leyland, Holmes Chapel and Knutsford. For those looking to get a quote or ask a question, there’s clear links such as ‘Free quotation request’ or ‘Download a Brochure’.
It’s also a great looking website - clean lines, great colour scheme and not too fussy.
In fact, I’m so impressed, we’ve decided to follow a similar theme for our own conservatory company’s website!
Edgetech VAT campaign for double glazing
Renegade Conservatory Guy 12 Mar 2008 | : upvc windows, double glazing
Edgetech VAT campaign for double glazing
Mark Warren from Lister Trade Frames sent the following letter to the Glazine about the Edgetech VAT campaign:
I was pleased to read last week that The Gl@zine and Edgetech have reinvigorated the VAT campaign. Last year with the number 10 petition and template MP letters, the campaign made real headway. But so much of our industry is apathetic.
Companies sit back and wait to see how they will be affected by legislation or new innovations, but that’s the attitude of a victim! And that attitude is one of the reasons we continue to hear of companies struggling and even becoming casualties.
Lister Trade Frames takes a very different view. We want to orchestrate change to ensure it’s for the better for us and our customers. That’s why we supported the VAT campaign very early on. That’s also why 33 of the first 100 signatures on the Number 10 petition set up by Andy Jones of Edgetech in 2006 on this very issue, were Listers employees and friends.
I couldn’t believe that at last count some large fabricators and even some of our suppliers had only one or two names on the list. Now that the campaign is being reinvigorated, more of us need to get involved and make a difference. We need to stop being victims and make our industry better - it won’t happen by itself!
I have campaigned on this website previously for action from individuals, so understand entirely Mark’s frustration. Our conservatory company is and always has been in full support of Andy Jones’ efforts. I emailed all my contacts and made them all aware of the campaign. That email was responsible for at least 50 signatures of the 900 or so, that signed up. I also sent a letter to my local MP, and she sent letters to the relevant people.
I believe that virtually everyone in the industry supports the campaign, but apathy is the problem. For that reason, it’ll probably never happen!
Phoenix Double Glazing Companies - survival of the weakest?
Renegade Conservatory Guy 07 Mar 2008 | : Uncategorized
Phoenix Double Glazing Companies - survival of the weakest?
I read a very interesting article today in the Fenestration News, discussing survival of the fittest in the window industry.
The article is by Chris Ball from MBA associates:
A very experienced senior manager said to me this week that he was seeing in the window industry what he had seen in the steel industry when he worked there and it was evolving and altering under the squeeze of competition and price pressure. He described it as a situation where the strong got stronger and the weak got weaker but I’m not sure that is what we are seeing in the window industry as yet.
I’m not sure Darwin would recognise what we are seeing as natural selection. Natural selection implies that the weak die out and the strong thrive but whilst we are seeing business failures, often very costly ones (if you happen to be a creditor or customer) we are not seeing as many of these companies stay ‘dead’ as you would expect. Capacity is not being removed from a market where there is surplus. So are we seeing the survival of the least fit? There is even a term for it, the ‘Phoenix’ company. This implies something splendid rising from the ashes but I’m not sure that best describes this phenomenon, certainly not if you have to compete with companies like this. They have an advantage when they are failing (they don’t pay their bills) and they have an advantage when they arise…. A clean slate and often highly discounted resources, all at the creditors (and sometimes customers) expense.
Businesses fail for many reasons and sometimes events entirely out of the control of the management will pull down a perfectly good business, the failure of a major customer, a change in legislation etc. Some of our best business leaders have the learnt the hard lessons of a failure in their past sometimes of their own making. However sometimes businesses fail because they are not best equipped to survive. In other words the strategy or the execution of that strategy is flawed and actually enterprises like this need to fail for the furtherance of a healthy marketplace. But what happens when a poorly performing business is resurrected and rises with it’s debts magically wiped clean to continue to underperform? If you don’t pay your suppliers you can always undercut the competition on price. If you don’t pay your taxes and pick up resources from a receiver at a knock down price you gain a cost advantage. What this does is weaken good businesses and honest enterprises that pay their bills and work hard to earn the just rewards of success.
If I was a fabricator struggling hard in this market and I saw this phenomenon threatening my business I think I’d be livid at the injustice of it all, life is hard enough! Worse this happens sometimes with the apparent blessing of suppliers that you would expect to behave with a degree of corporate responsibility, why is it that they don’t see the damage this does to their loyal and hardworking core customers? Does short term expediency skew their judgement? Is there a disconnect in their own interests and those of their customers? Whatever the end result is the perpetuation of a degree of overcapacity that a falling market will only exacerbate.
So if the least well equipped to survive are given an advantage over the best equipped we are not seeing natural selection leading to developing strength. Rather we are likely to see a situation where everyone gets weaker and in the long run everyone suffers. In other words a degenerative disease that threatens the species not just individuals.
Back in 2006 I wrote an article entitled “Are we seeing the end of the )window world as we know it” maybe the shift in business model postulated in that article will be the accelerated by the downturn we all expect to see over the next 12-24 months, call it what you want, credit crunch, recession whatever. Certainly the current market model is not enhanced by survival of the least fit.
To end on a positive note it’s in changing markets that most money is to be made, opportunities present themselves that wouldn’t otherwise be seen in a stable environment and it is the most exciting of times to be in business but change is scary stuff especially if you don’t have the degree of control you would want! The senior manager who kicked off this train of thought had seen it all before in the steel industry and was happy to be back in it up to his neck! Strategic change is about a small number of very big decisions and if you have it right you don’t have to change strategies often. Maybe now is one of those times and it’s going to be fascinating to see how the species evolves and hopefully be part of that process.
Gap Home Improvements - uPVC stockists and great hosts.
Renegade Conservatory Guy 05 Mar 2008 | : Uncategorized
Gap Home Improvements - uPVC stockists and great hosts.
Our double glazing company has dealt with Gap for many years. We were their first customers when they opened their Leeds branch about 6-7 years ago.
And, out of all our suppliers, I rate GAP right at the top of the list.
They supply us with uPVC fascias, soffits and guttering, window boards for our conservatories, and they have a great range of door panels. They also have probably the best composite door on the market - Rock Door. The quality of products and range are second to none.
They deliver on time and all the usual stuff, but the reason I rate the company so highly is simply because they offer a level of hospitality that is unsurpassed (Man U games, York Races, Aintree etc) and these get togethers help build trading relationships (even friendships).
So I’d just like to thank GAP for all your efforts as a supplier - it does get noticed!
Anglian Windows closes Rochdale factory
Renegade Conservatory Guy 05 Mar 2008 | : upvc doors, upvc windows, double glazing, Uncategorized
Anglian Windows closes Rochdale factory
There’s been quite a few rumours flying around recently about Anglian struggling. After the demise of Zenith / Staybright and various other double glazing companies - you’re always going to get gossip.
But, yesterday, I got information from a very well informed individual, that Anglian really are struggling. I’ll not go into detail, but the news surprised me really, as Anglian Group has always been a strong brand name in our marketplace.
Then today I find out that Anglian have closed their Lancashire factory with the loss of 165 jobs.
In an update to Anglian’s staff, Stig Hansen, managing director of Anglian Group’s manufacturing division, said: ‘Anglian Group in common with other companies in the sector, is currently experiencing a downturn in sales and profitability in its new build and other markets as a result of the prevailing economic climate.
‘It is therefore with regret that Anglian has today announced the closure of its Rochdale factory with the loss of 165 jobs. The company will commence a redundancy consultation process with the Rochdale workforce with immediate effect.
‘Prior to formalising the proposal to shut the Rochdale plant, the company also considered a number of other options to reduce manufacturing capacity including job losses in Norwich and a combination of job losses in both Rochdale and Norwich plants.’
Anglian are also trying to reduce costs in other areas, such as taking 100 of their fitting vans off the road.
I’ve got mixed feelings on this news. In some respects I’m quite happy about it because:
Despite all the above, I also feel very sad about this news because:
It’ll be interesting to see how Anglian performs in 2008.
Double Glazing industry picks up
Renegade Conservatory Guy 03 Mar 2008 | : economy, conservatories, double glazing
Double Glazing industry picks up
The word on the street is that sales are up!
It was a very poor start to the year for many fabricators and installers, mainly due to pretty poor sales in November and December. There were obviously a lot of casualties with Zenith / Staybright, Shepley Window Systems, Budget Windows, Pennine Windows, and My Planet just a handful of those going bust!
Our conservatory manufacturing business was well down in January compared to the year before, but February was pretty good, and March is looking excellent at the moment. In fact our Q3 results will be far better in 2008, than the equivalent in 2007.
Our conservatory installation company also had a very average January, but February has been one of the best months on record, mainly due to an effective TV campaign we have been running. March is also already looking excellent with customers keen to visit the showroom and place orders.
A number of our trade conservatory companies are also getting busier after the slow start. I’m not sure what has changed - whether it’s better weather, lower interest rates, or just that we’re excellent at selling conservatories and double glazing.
So forget everything I said in January!
What recession???
